Despite rising unemployment
rates, turnout for the job fair at
Bucks’ Newtown Campus on
Oct. 13 was decidedly low.
Job hunters from the Bucks student
body and from the general
public who flocked to the jobs
fairs held last spring, stayed away
for the fall season – surprising
considering the terrible state of
the U.S. job market. Only a few
job seekers were present when a
Centurion reporter visited the
fair.
According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, the number of
jobless Americans has risen to 9.8
percent, the highest it has been
since 1983. With unemployment
at a 26-year high, it doesn’t
exactly follow that the job fair at
Bucks would be so poorly attended.
More than a dozen different
companies came to the job fair on
Tuesday, looking to fill an array
of positions from internships to
entry-level engineers.
Kate Esposito, employer liaison
for career services at Bucks
said, “It’s a great way for students
to find a job. And even if they
don’t get a job, it’s a great way
for students to get more practice
talking with recruiters.”
She also noted that it is usually
the people who come to the fair
prepared, dressed in business
attire with their résumés in-hand,
who have the greatest success at
the fair.
Lauren Tyson, a business major
from Quakertown, was one such
student. Currently a waitress, she
will be graduating from Bucks in January. “I’m not sure what I
want to do,” she said, “but I don’t
want to waitress forever.”
Graduation may be the primary
motivator for student attendance
at the jobs fair. Esposito recalled
that the fair held last spring was
packed. “There were probably 100
people waiting to be let in.”
Since more people tend to graduate
in the spring semester rather
than in the fall, it makes sense that
more students would be hunting
for jobs then.
But, Esposito also mentioned
that the mix of students and people
from the general public was
reversed from that of the spring
fair. “Last year it was probably 80
percent people from the community
and 20 percent students. This
year it’s more like 20 percent
community and 80 percent students.”
Since March of 2007, Pennsylvania
has seen its unemployment
rate steadily climb, remaining at a
constant rate for no more than two
months before rising again.
August was no exception, with
another tenth of a point added to
July’s rate to make Pennsylvania’s
unemployment rate a staggering
8.6 percent.
Even with the low turnout, Esposito
was hopeful, “As long as an
employer finds one good candidate,
I consider it a success.”